Army - Defence Childrens Services - Information Systems Engineer, Cyprus

Do you want to use your technical skills to make a valuable contribution in a unique Defence Environment?

Defence Children Services (DCS) has a vacancy for a Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Systems Engineer to join our geographically dispersed, collaborative ICT team. Based in Cyprus you will provide high quality customer focused ICT Systems Support primarily within DCS Schools in the Western Sovereign Base Area (WSBA), but also as part of the wider DCS ICT Systems and Strategy team who are located in Upavon, SHAPE and Cyprus. The team provide technical and advisory support to schools, settings and Headquarters users; and manage the network and server capabilities for the MOD Schools Network.

The tour length is 3 years.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week. Due to the nature of the work 100% office attendance is required.

The Defence Children Services (DCS) Vision is that we Educate the Child – Support the Family – Defend the Nation.

Defence Children Services (DCS) is a Defence delivery organisation, subordinated under Army Regional Command. HQ DCS is UK based at Trenchard Lines, Upavon and has forward deployed staff all over the world. DCS is responsible fort he education and care of children of accompanied Service and Defence entitled personnel in MOD schools and settings; provides advice and guidance in respect of education for service families in the United Kingdom and the wider world.

This is an established MOD post within Cyprus, and any Cypriot nationals (including dual nationals) will not be eligible to apply as a UKBC (UK Based Civil Servant).

The Schools Interface Service (DCS-SIS) is made up of multi-disciplinary teams of functional specialists who support the provision and business of our schools and settings. The Service is led by the Assistant Head (Schools Interface Settings). These include teams who specialise in the management and development of our buildings, the security and accuracy of our online presence, the development and maintenance of our computer network, the production and analysis of the data available to support education and care. All Resource Management processes that enable our schools and settings to function efficiently across the world.

The DCS ICT Systems and Strategy (DCS-SIS-ICTSS) team are located in Upavon, SHAPE and Cyprus and led by the Senior Executive Office ICT (Systems & Strategy). The team provide technical and advisory support to schools, settings and Headquarters users; and manage the network and server capabilities for the MOD Schools Network.

The post holder’s key responsibilities and main duties are:

• Respond to and resolve incidents reported via agreed procedures, detailing progress & updating resolutions on the Service desk
• Providing high quality on-site technical support to all staff and pupils accessing the MOD Schools ICT system
• Ensuring the printing, file storage, patching and all other services are maintained to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of ICT services for all schools and HQs
• Installing hardware, software, active network upgrades and technical refreshes to operating systems, infrastructure and applications
• Provide advice on all IT matters to school staff
• Developing and maintaining effective working relationships with key service stakeholders and users to help understand their business requirements and priorities.
• Writing, managing and auditing technical documentation, including knowledge bases and configuration design documentation
• Carry out regular reviews of existing processes and procedures, leading improvement when required
• Ensure that all DCS ICT systems within their area of responsibility are compliant with the appropriate data handling security standards for the processing, storage and distribution of information
• Provide technical advice to project teams within DCS

If you experience any technical difficulties with the CS Jobs system, please contact the Support Team via the Help link.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

At application you will be assessed against the following:

• CV with full job history and qualifications
• Personal statement of 250 words to evidence your skills and knowledge, against the essential criteria within the advert

This post is aligned with the Infrastructure Operations Engineer role in the DDaT framework and we’ll asses you against these two technical skills during the application process

• Incident management: Incident Manager at Working Level Infrastructure operations engineer - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework
• https://ddat-capability-framework.service.gov.uk/role/incident-managerIncident management: Technical Understanding at Awareness Level Infrastructure operations engineer - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework

At interview you will be assessed against the following behaviours:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

At interview you will also be assessed against two technical skills:

• Incident management: Incident Manager at Working Level Infrastructure operations engineer - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework
• Incident management: Technical Understanding at Awareness Level Infrastructure operations engineer - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework

Application sifting will be scheduled to take place within 7 days of the application closing date. Interview dates are to be confirmed. We endeavour to stick to these time frames, but these are subject to change around business needs.

When choosing your Behaviour examples, please make sure you use real life scenarios that relate to your own experiences. Whilst technology may help to enhance your written submission, presenting the ideas of others or those generated by technology, could result in your application being rejected.

DCS is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all the children and young people in our care and expect all applicants to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices and hold ourselves to a high standard of effective recruiting practices with specific attention to child protection.

All appointments are subject to an interview, identity checks, criminal record checks and successful references. Where possible references are taken up before interview.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

There may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all DCS candidates that meet the minimum criteria for the job. For example, in certain recruitment situations such as a high volume of applications, seasonal demand, or peak periods, the employer may wish to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both DCS and non-DCS applicants.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical.

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected, and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigation's can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – we may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.